Struggling Ocean Park Appoints New Leadership

Cash-strapped Ocean Park has named Ysanne Chan as the theme park's new chief executive, while Lau Ming-wai has been appointed the park's chairman.

Chan is currently the park's chief financial officer and corporate secretary, while Lau is the park's deputy chairman.

They will take over from outgoing CEO Matthias Li and chairman Leo Kung from Wednesday, with a tenure of a year.

Li praised Chan as "an enlightened leader who is good at listening and accepts others’ ideas".

In a statement, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau said Lau had "profound commercial experience" and is an "eminently suitable" candidate to assume the new chairmanship.

Yau praised Kung for his "high degree of commitment and dedication to leading Ocean Park in tackling different challenges in the past six years".

Lau joined the board in July 2008 and served as the number two of the board since July 2014.

Last month, he lobbied hard for Legco to approve a HK$5.4 billion lifeline from the government for Ocean Park to repay loans in order to save it from closing down.

The park re-opened earlier this month following more than four months of forced closure due to the Covid-19 outbreak.